ALEXANDRIA, VA. - The nominating committee hasn’t even met, but Paul Smedberg has already emerged as the front-runner to succeed Jack Evans as chair of the Metro board, officials said Friday.

Smedberg, a former Alexandria City Council member with transportation experience, is seen as a broadly acceptable candidate who won’t seek the limelight and can help unify the jurisdictions served by Metro after Evans’s occasionally stormy tenure over the past 3½ years.

“Smedberg is a good choice,” said a Metro board member who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter is politically sensitive. “After three years of Jack, I think it’s a good time for the board to step back and let [General Manager Paul J.] Wiedefeld be the face of Metro.”

In another sign of significant changes to come on the Metro board, Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn said he will join the panel as a principal or voting member on July 1.

It’s unusual for such a high-ranking official from Maryland or Virginia to serve on the board, and the decision apparently signals a desire in Annapolis to exert more influence over the transit agency. A recently passed Maryland law requires that the transportation secretary either serve on the board or appoint a subordinate to do so.